Children's Book Week in Liberty

Children’s literature ignites the imagination of youngsters and inspires them to dream. In 1913 Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian for the Boy Scouts of America, proposed creating a week-long celebration of children’s literature, Children’s Book Week. He believed in the power of books and the profound effect literature has on the lives of children. His idea took form in 1919 with the first formal commemoration and has remained an important event for children, librarians, and lovers of children’s literature. Today the Children’s Book Council oversees the national celebration. Historically, Children’s Book Week has been scheduled during the month of November. The Children’s Book Council elected to move the national celebration to May in 2008.

Many of the schools in Liberty County continue to celebrate Children’s Book Week during the month of November.

Button Gwinnett Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Monday, November 15th: Crazy about Books at BGE! – Students and staff may wear crazy, zany socks to show their love of reading! (Students will also help decorate their classroom doors in a book theme for a door-decorating contest!)
• Tuesday, November 16th: Teaming Up to be Lifelong Readers!- Students and staff may wear a team jersey or sports/team t-shirt with their school uniform pants.
• Wednesday, November 17th: Curl Up and Read Pajama Day!- Everyone wear pajamas! Regular shoes are required, and please no gowns, “shortie” pj’s, string/spaghetti strap pj’s, only pants-style pajamas. Guest readers will be in classrooms during the day to share great stories.
• Thursday, November 18th: Hide Yourself in a Good Book! – Students and staff may wear camouflage shirts or jackets with their school uniform pants on this day.
• Friday, November 19th: Book Character Parade, 8:30am- Students and staff may dress like a favorite book character and march in the parade! Students must have the book that matches their character if they plan to be in the parade.

Frank Long Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• A special luncheon will be held for the student from each grade level that has earned the highest number of Accelerated Reader points while maintaining an average of 85% or higher on reading practice quizzes. Mrs. Judy Hellgren, FLE principal, and the teachers of the recognized students will attend the luncheon.
• A special reading challenge will be announced for the week. Classrooms reaching the goal will be invited to a popcorn party and movie.
• Monday, November 15th: Frank Long Story Land - Each classroom will decorate its door to illustrate the class’s favorite children’s book.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Crazy Sock Day: Our Students are Crazy about Books! Students may wear outrageous socks to show just how crazy they are about reading!
• Wednesday, November 17th: Read’n Lock’in and Pajama Day- Cozy up with a good book in your pajamas! Students may wear pajamas to school. Football and cheerleaders from Bradwell Institute will visit classrooms to read to students.
• Thursday, November 18th: Sunglasses Day: It is Cool to be a Good Reader!” –Students may wear sunglasses.
• Friday, November 19th: Hat Day: Hats Off to Reading! –Student may wear a hat to school.

Jordye Bacon Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th-19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• A special luncheon will be held for the student from each grade level that has earned the highest number of Accelerated Reader points while maintaining an average of 85% or higher on the reading practice quizzes. The teachers of the recognized students will attend the luncheon.
• The classroom from each grade level which earns the highest number of Accelerated Reader points and the highest practice quiz average will earn a popcorn party and movie.
• If the students at JBE can earn 750 Accelerated Reader points during the week, Dr. Johnson, JBE’s principal, and Dr. Sukaratana, JBE’s assistance principal, will read a story from the roof of the school!
• Monday, November 15th: “Mark” Your Day with a Good Book - Each student who visits the media center and checks out a book will receive one bookmark.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Team Up with a Good Book –Students and teachers may wear their favorite sports’ team attire to school.
• Wednesday, November 17th: Crazy About Books- Students may wear crazy socks to show just how CRAZY they are about reading.
• Thursday, November 18th: Hats off to Reading ~ Students may wear their favorite hat to show their love of reading.
• Friday, November 19th: Find “Peace” in Reading – Students and teachers may dress in tie-dyed clothing/retro style.

Joseph Martin Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Monday, November 15th: Sock it to Me with a Good Book –Students make sure to wear your craziest socks to school. JME teachers will visit different classrooms to read books.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Tied up with Books –Students may wear a tie to school.
• Wednesday, November 17th: Rockers for Reading –Student may come to school dressed as a rock star. Magician, Sean Driscoll will visit to perform a reading program for students.
• Thursday, November 18th: Slip into a Good Book – Students may wear slippers to school.
• Friday, November 19th: Character Book Parade – Students bring your favorite story book and come dressed as a character from the story. Student will parade through the school in their character costumes!

Liberty Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Families were invited to a special guest author visit November 4th as part of the annual evening Pajamboree. The author of the Snipesville Chronicles series, Dr. Annette Laing, helped students experience different aspects of Great Britain during World War II.
• Classrooms will participate in a door decorating contest. Each classroom will illustrate a different children’s book.
• Mr. Anderson, LE’s principal, will share a special story time with all of the students.
• Soldiers will visit classrooms to read to students.
• Thursday, November 18th: Reading Challenge! -Mr. Anderson has pledged that he will eat a bug if students can read 4,000 books in four days!
• Friday, November 19th: Character Book Day: -Teachers and students may dress as their favorite children’s book character! Students do not forget your favorite book!

Taylors Creek Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Students may participate in a bookmark design contest. A winner will be selected from each grade level!
• Monday, November 15th: Character Book Day –Student may come to school dressed as their favorite book characters.
• Tuesday, November 16th: Hats Off to Reading! –Students may show their enthusiasm for reading by wearing a hat to school.
• Wednesday, November 17th: We’re Crazy for Books! –Students make sure to wear your craziest pair of socks to school.
• Thursday, November 18th: 1,000 Point Thursday - Students are challenged to read and earn 1,000 Accelerated Reader points in four days! Thursday is the last day of the challenge.
• Friday, November 19th: Gotta Keep Reading Rally! –Students will enjoy a reading rally outside with their favorite books! Dr. Rodriguez, TCE’s principal, will take to the roof of Taylors Creek Elementary to rally students as the whole school sings “Gotta Keep Reading!”


Waldo Pafford Elementary School will celebrate during the week of November 29th -December 1st. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Tuesday, November 30th: Relax and Read Day – Student may wear pajamas to school as they get cozy and read!
• Wednesday, December 1st: Guest Author Visit -Student will enjoy a visit from the author of the Yumion and Jeremiah series, Pam Alexander. Students will find several good books at the book fair! The book fair will remain open until December 10th.

Lewis Frasier Middle School will celebrate the week of November 15th -19th. Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Throughout the week students will be challenged to answer children’s literature trivia questions as part of the morning announcements. Winners will be selected daily to win a free pass for ice cream.

Midway Middle School will celebrate the week of November 15th -19th by helping others! Students may choose to participate in the following festivities:
• Students are asked to donate school supplies in the media center throughout the week as part of The Mathew Freeman Project: Pens & Paper for Peace. The Mathew Freeman Project is a national not-for- profit charitable organization. Donated supplies are redistributed by the United States Military to children in war-torn areas of the world, like Afghanistan and Iraq.
• Classrooms will participate in a door decorating contest throughout the week.
• Classes will also take part in fun-filled media lessons, book talks, and media skills games in the media center throughout the week.
• Earlier in the month, sixth grade students received a special visit from children’s author Dr. Annette Laing, November 4th. Students learned about the everyday challenges and hobbies of children from Great Britain during the World War II era.

*Students participating in dress down days will be expected to adhere to the dress code requirements for dress down days.

Is Masher Trash?

I wanted to find a new free online tool that would be helpful to the media specialists in my district. Masher seemed the answer to my ill-fated hopes. Masher seemed like a great little find. The idea is that folks could use Masher to upload photos, video, music, or use the already present video clips and music. Really neat video effects and skins were available for use. The video clips even came from the BBC! How cool does that sound, right?

I set out to make a video with Masher to try it out. It was not easy at all. The creation process was not very difficult, but there are a few bugs. First, when I logged out and then tried to log back in, my password would no longer work. That was annoying. I would have to request a new password. Once I got the new password and logged in, there was not a way to change my password to something I could remember. That was really a very minor problem, but it was one of many I would encounter.

Next, after adding video clips into the timeline, I wanted to add text. The text feature was a little tricky. Once adding text and previewing it, there was not a way to edit it. I would have to delete it and start again. Sometimes I could not even re-add the text. I tried adding a video effect to my short film, but I was not able to drag it into the effects line.

The final disappointment came when I saved my video and tried to use the embed code. Once adding the complete code to my blog, it placed a viewer, but my video would never play. I could not even find my video anymore on the site!

I know this is a beta version, and I will revisit to see if it improves. There is a place to report bugs, and I left a pretty detailed description. Needless to say, I do not think Masher is ready for general use. So, I ask... is Masher trash? If you get it to work, please tell me your secret!

I added the link out to my video. I will be delightfully surprised if it works....

I just checked the link... it did link! One point for Masher!

Liberty County Wins at the International Student Media Festival

Last year fifty-six student projects advanced from the Georgia State Media Festival to the International Student Media Festival from Liberty County. The results for the ISMF are still rolling in, but one thing is certain... Several of the students in Liberty County are winners!

Although some of the projects from Button Gwinnett are still being judged, the following projects are winners!
Dear Connor...
Our Dad, Our Hero
Super Dog!

All of the projects from Frank Long have been judged, and the following are winners:
Egypt Explorers- Judges' Favorite
Horsin' Around with Karoline
Living with Aspergers Syndrome
One, Two, Three...Let at Count FLE!
The Benjamin Project- Judges' Favorite
The Talking Pencil- Judges' Favorite

Jordye Bacon's entry is a winner!
My Fish

Joseph Martin still has a couple of projects that need to be scored. The winners so far include:
The Black Skeleton
Electricity
Galaxy Gal's Beginning

Liberty Elementary's winners consisted of:
Class Council and the Gossip Book- Judges' Favorite
Crabbing with Grandma
Honey
My Cat
Study On

one of the projects from Taylors Creek was named Best of Festival, a high honor! Taylors Creek's winners consisted of:
A Day on the Farm
Holly the Christmas Cow
Nicholas's Adventure
Our Childhood
Our Class Pets- Judges' Favorite
Second Grade Scientist- Judges' Favorite
The Animal Tracks Mystery- Best of Festival
The Baseball Glove
The Great Math Safari-Judges' Favorite

The winners for Waldo Pafford include:
Amazing Dinosaurs
We Go

Congratulations to all the students on their outstanding accomplishment!

Students at WPE are Buzzing In!

How do you get fourth and fifth graders excited about reading? Waldo Pafford Elementary has students buzzing about reading! Recently, media specialists, Roxanne Lee, invited fourth and fifth grade students in to preview the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl books for this year.

Students listened to brief book talks about each of the 17 selected titles and then checked out their favorite. The books flew off the shelve in no time. In addition to getting familiar with the books, students learned the rules for the reading bowl. The visit concluded with students participating in a mock bowl. The questions for the bowl came from the most popular books in circulation- Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants were both represented!

LCHS Helen Ruffin Readers are Rocking the Green Screen!

Students at Liberty County High School are getting ready for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl! Media specialists, Kay Williams and Jeff Staggs, host two weekly after school meetings for students to review and discuss the selected reading bowl books. Along with the weekly meetings, students meet with Bradwell Institute HRRB team members and scrimmage frequently to prepare for the reading bowl.

Last week, LCHS readers stepped in front of the green screen to learn how to use Adobe Visual Communicator 3 to create book trailers for the books they have been reading and studying. The book trailers will also be entered into the school media festival!

Technology use and a love for reading are hand-in-hand in the LCHS media center

Families at LHE Break for Breakfast and Reading!

Each year students and families look forward to the book fair coming to Lyman Hall Elementary. It is always exciting to see the new books, fun kits available, and the pancakes are out of this world! With the help of special area teachers and the front office staff, media specialist, Diana Anderson, welcomed 721 guests to a sit-down family pancake breakfast in the media center recently.

The pancake breakfast is a school tradition. Each child is given an invitation and requested to RSVP for his/her family. The media center is transformed into a fine dining establishment, with table clothes and flowers on every table. Each grade level is hosted on a different morning during the book fair. This enables families to browse for new books and enjoy a peaceful breakfast.

The benefits are two-fold! Since beginning the family pancake events, the book fairs at LHE have seen their profits double. When families feel welcome and enjoy their time at school everyone profits!

LCSS Media & Technology Showcase

I attended the annual LCSS Media & Technology Showcase yesterday and had a blast!  I was able to attend 3 sessions (well, I cheated and went to half of two, but shhhhh don’t tell) – podcasting, media festival and STAR Early Literacy. 

Melissa Roberts and Brittney Mobley of the LCSS Technology Office offered great ideas about podcasting.  Their hands-on workshop was a great deal of fun and I left feeling much more confident in using some of the free resources available to podcast. 

A session to promote the International Student Media Festival was offered by Deborah Hargroves.  Along with media festival tips and ideas, I learned of many free tools available for the 21st century classroom.  It will be so much fun sharing these programs with the teachers and students!  I just know we can utilize them in creating technology projects to submit to this years media festival.

STAR Early Literacy with Ellen Gadberry was the last session that I “sneaked” into and I certainly was glad I did!  I was so impressed with the program.  STAR Early Literacy is a web-based early literacy assessment tool that provides immediate feedback on the development of students' literacy skills.  I am extremely interested in this program for our kindergarten and possibly first graders who struggle with STAR testing.  Very informative session! 

Oh, but I haven’t told you the best part of that day (besides wearing jeans, of course)… I was a winner two times over!  Yes two times!  I won a NEO 2 from Renaissance Learning.  I am so excited!  I am going to put it to great use too!  It is going to travel each month to the classroom with the highest AR points AND testing accuracy at FLE.  How cool will that be for the kiddos?  I also won a book, In One Ear, Out the Other by Michael Dahl from Perma Bound Books.  (My friend Tara suggested I pick this book as my free gift… so, I haven’t actually read the book yet, but I’m sure it is GrEaT!) 

NEO 2

All in all, it was a great day!  Thanks Jaime for organizing the event!